HFR and DrKW join forces for new index certificates launch

HFR Asset Management and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) have joined forces again to launch a new index tracker certificate.

This latest cooperation between HFR Asset Management and the German investment bank, sees new seven-year certificates, which are linked to the hedge fund asset class for German retail investors, added to DrKW's Warrants and Securitized products range in Germany.

The new HFRX Index Certificates track the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, the most widely used and fastest growing hedge fund index in the industry based on the number of products now made available against the index. The EUR 100-denominated certificates will be available to private investors in Germany via Dresdner Bank's extensive branch network in with a minimum purchase of one certificate.

Guenther Schaertl, a Director in DrKW's Securitized Products team in Frankfurt, said: "Our new certificates offer an attractive opportunity for retail investors wanting exposure to the hedge fund asset class. They track the well known and successful HFRX benchmark index and come with the price transparency, daily liquidity and tradability attributes that customers usually expect from our securitized products range."

John Godden, Managing Director of HFR, added: "One of the fundamental concepts of HFRX is to widen access to hedge fund economics for institutional and private investors. The launch of this Certificate provides a further tool whereby German investors can do this with transparency and accountability."

DrKW recently launched a similar HFRX linked Three-year Tracker Certificate in the UK - the first certificate based on the hedge fund asset class for retail investors in the UK market while the two firms have also cooperated on a number of other structured products initiatives in Europe over the last 18 months.

A subsidiary of the HFR Group, HFR Asset Management has more than USD 3 billion funds under management and specializes in the construction of custom-built funds of hedge funds focusing on transparency and stringent risk management controls. The HFR Group is headquartered in Chicago and is a global leader in the provision of hedge fund data, research, indexation and asset management services to institutional clients.

In Germany, DrKW and its parent Dresdner Bank AG offer a range of over 2,500 warrants and certificates (essentially securitized derivatives) based on underlying assets such as shares, bonds, interest rates, commodities, currencies and financial futures, including basket and bespoke tailored products. With a significant presence in other established warrants markets such as France, Switzerland and the UK as well, Dresdner Bank is one of the leading warrants issuers in continental Europe and trades a total of more than 5,000 warrants and other securitized products internationally.

The new HFRX Index Certificates are structured by DrKW and issued in the legal entity name of Dresdner Bank AG. They track the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index which started in April 2003 and employ an asset-weighted, rules-based process to closely reflect the global hedge fund industry. The new certificates will be listed on the Deutsche Borse Frankfurt Stock Exchange from January 2006 but before then prices can be viewed on Reuters. For certificates issued on 17 January 2005, the maturity date is 30 March 2012.

HFR and DrKW have previously worked together on the following initiatives:

* March 2003: DrKW was a partner bank for HFR's initial launch of its HFRX family of investable hedge fund indices* June 2004: Dresdner Bank was issuer and DrKW market marker for a new range of investable Hedge Fund Indices launched in Switzerland and fully tradable on the SWX Swiss Exchange

* October 2004: DrKW and HFRX collaborated to offer the first Tracker Certificate in the UK linked to the hedge fund asset class